Guitry's films are often relegated to the category of "filmed theater." While this is an inaccurate categorization of his films as a whole, it does apply to this very talky picture. Not only is it based on a play, it is also very clumsily "opened up" with cutaway "meanwhile" inserts, brief exterior shots showing characters entering buildings, etc., which break up the theatrical continuity and add little, if anything. A rather long 91 minutes (the running time of the Gaumont DVD in the "Guitry Coffret d'or" boxed set -- though two Guitry books and IMDb list it as 109), despite the exceptionally appealing presence of young star Georges Gray -- a very handsome man, who is seen in a (non full-frontal) nude scene. He's very chipper and genial (if not exactly funny -- he doesn't really have any good lines). Guitry gives a typical Guitry performance. He himself said he was no actor, and, indeed, Guitry is always Guitry (as John Wayne is always John Wayne). Sometimes that's fine -- when he plays historical characters it seems to work well -- but here one could use something more. The women are all fine, the decors and costumes are lovely. And it's a bit of a bore.

Some forty years ago there were two enormously talented French Writer-Directors who moved effortlessly between Stage and Screen, often adapting their own theatrical triumphs for film. If Marcel Pagnol is arguably still remembered outside France by virtue of his great Trilogy (Marius, Fanny, Cesar) of the early thirties and the late quartet (Jean de Florette, Manon des Sources, La Gloire de ma pere, La Château de ma mere) some fifty years later, then Sacha Guitry is no less celebrated still in France, or Paris at least, where retrospectives are a regular thing on the Art House/Revival circuit. Whilst there was little to choose between them in terms of talent and craftsmanship Pagnol tended to favor rural tradespeople - Bakers, Well-Diggers, Saloonkeepers - whilst Guitry was more inclined to write about urban sophisticates.

This typical Guitry entry was remade by Valerie Lemercier, who also acted in it as did Guitry himself (an extra string that was lacking in the bow of Pagnol) and now, thanks to the generosity of the guy in Norway, I am the proud owner of the DVD of Quadrille. The Guitry 'touch' is evident throughout from his penchant for showing clips of not only actors but technicians in the opening credits to his polished take on contemporary mores and scintillating dialogue. On paper this is little more than mixed sexual doubles but on celluloid it's game, set and match to an old maestro.